Walker’s whirlwind trip brings him back to Hurricanes after baby daughter’s arrival

PHILADELPHIA -- Sean Walker is looking forward to having the next two days off.

The Carolina Hurricanes defenseman knows exactly how he’s going to spend them -- doting on his newborn daughter, Quinn.

Walker also will try to mix in some rest after a hectic two days in which he became a father for the first time and helped the Hurricanes advance to the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday.

After sweeping the best-of-7 series, the Hurricanes await the winner of the series between the Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens, which could take some time to be completed. Walker won’t mind waiting.

“I didn’t want to get on the boys and tell them we’d better win tonight,” Walker said. “But I’m really appreciative that everybody dug in. The sweep is huge for everybody, but to take this time to be with my family is going to be really special.”

Walker’s whirlwind began with a phone call from his wife Taylor about 1 a.m. Friday following Carolina’s 4-1 win in Game 3 at Philadelphia on Thursday.

“I was still up and she said her water broke,” Walker said.

Walker immediately called Hurricanes manager of team services Mike Brown and Brown was able to get him on a 6 a.m. flight from Philadelphia to get back to Raleigh, North Carolina in time to be there with Taylor when Quinn was born. There were some stressful moments while he was in the air, but Quinn cooperated and waited for her dad to make it to the hospital before arriving.

“I was there for everything,” Walker said. “So, the baby gods were on my side for that one and got to experience it all. It was an amazing experience.”

Walker reported that Quinn and Taylor are both doing well.

“It’s funny already how much you love your new daughter, and my wife is a rockstar the way she killed it,” he said. “I’m so proud of her and I love them both.”

Walker spent Friday night in Raleigh before flying back to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon to rejoin the Hurricanes. The 31-year-old said he landed around 2 p.m. and met his teammates at their hotel before riding the bus with them to the arena.

“I ate my pregame meal in the hospital cafeteria,” he said. “It’s just crazy, but you just show up and the guys were amazing. Everybody -- team services, the whole organization from the owner (Tom Dundon) down – really made it possible for me to be there and get back in time. Just happy to contribute.”

Walker played his usual steady game alongside defense partner K'Andre Miller, logging 23:13 in ice time and getting two shots on goal.

“It was weird,” he said. “It was kind of one of the easiest and hardest games I maybe ever played, if that makes sense. You just kind of live in the moment running on no sleep.”

Walker’s teammates were happy he made it back in time for the game, but happier that he’ll have a new baby waiting for him when he gets home.

“Hockey is amazing, to get a win is amazing, but for him to welcome a baby into the world, there’s so much more to life than hockey,” Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “So, happy for him, happy for his family. He played amazing today – dad strength.”